Game Day Five: Senators at Red Wings, Dec. 31
By
Daniel Chisholm
Hockey Content and Social Media Specialist
The set-up
Coming off three straight games that took extra time the Senators return to Detroit to close out 2022. Winning against Boston in a shootout and following it up with an overtime win over Washington the Senators are proving not only that they can hang with the top teams in the league, but that they are also showing maturity in finding ways to win these close battles. The last time these two teams faced off is a perfect example of just that. Both teams battled back-and-forth through the first two periods with three ties heading into the third period, and then the Senators took over rattling off three straight goals to seal the game.
Though the Senators are coming in hot, and won the last game between these two, Detroit is not an opponent to take lightly. The Red Wings have 10 different skaters seeing regular action that have a shooting percentage over 11%. The primary threats that Detroit brings into today's game are Dylan Larkin, David Perron and Dominik Kubalik who have 13, 12 and 12 goals respectively on the year so far. On the goaltending side Detroit's Ville Husso has had a solid season only allowing 2.86 goals per game while stopping 90.8% of the shots he's faced. Of course, there is a possibility the Senators see a familiar face between the pipes for Detroit as Magnus Hellberg has assumed the back-up role for Detroit of late. Hellberg entered the game against Pittsburgh down 4-0 on Wednesday, and helped Detroit pull out the 5-4 overtime win as he stopped all 19 shots he faced.
Expect this divisional battle to be exciting right down to the wire as both teams look to make up some ground in the playoff race.
Roster notes
Senators fans can look forward to defenceman Artem Zub returning to action tonight for the first time since December 2nd. With that news the Senators re-assigned defenceman Dillon Heatherington to Belleville yesterday morning. Below is how the Senators lined up during their skate at Little Caesars Arena yesterday morning:
Forwards:
Tkachuk - Stützle - Giroux
DeBrincat - Pinto - Batherson
Kelly - Gambrell - Lucchini
Brassard - Kastelic - Watson
Norris
Defense:
Chabot - Zub
Sanderson - Hamonic
Holden - Bernard-Docker
Larsson
Finding ways to win
In the month of December there has been a noticeable shift that this Senators team is finding ways to scratch and claw their way to wins. The epitome of this came in their last game against Washington. On a 4-on-3 late in the second period Tim Stützle on one knee kicked his leg out to stop a potential goal that would have put Washington up 4-1. Minutes later Claude Giroux intercepted a Washington pas, laying his body on the line, to set up Stützle for a goal with 15 seconds left in the period to bring the game within one heading into the final frame. A complete momentum shift.
That Washington game saw the Senators come back in the third period only to finish it off in overtime. A comeback trend that has become more and more common with this team that they never feel they are out of a game. This group started the month with an epic comeback win in New York led by a herculean effort by Brady Tkachuk and has carried that momentum on ward. In their last three games the Senators have taken Washington, twice, and league leading Boston to extra time and walked out victorious two of those three games. Including winning their first shootout of the season over Boston, with Cam Talbot stopping all three shots he faced, and Alex DeBrincat potting the winner. This team is maturing right in front of us and finding ways to get points on the table.
Who to watch
With an assist on Alex DeBrincat's game tying goal in the third period to send the game to overtime, Drake Batherson extended his point streak to 12 games. That mark gives Batherson the second longest point streak in the NHL, behind only Connor McDavid at 16 games. Tallying a point against Washington also put Batherson in sole possession of fourth place on the Senators longest point streak list, trailing only Dany Heatley (22, 16) and Marian Hossa (13). Sitting in third on the team with 34 points look for Batherson to add to his season tally and extend his point streak!
Where to watch
Saturday's game can be seen live on Sportsnet One, and TVAS. Fans can also tune into the radio call on TSN 1200 and Unique FM 94,5.
